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Longitudinal correlation of Late Quaternary terrace sequences of Widden Brook, southeastern Australia

2010; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 57; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/08120090903416229

1440-0952

Michael D Cheetham, Richard T Bush, Annabelle F Keene, Wayne D. Erskine, Kathryn E. Fitzsimmons,

Archaeology and ancient environmental studies

Abstract Terrace remnants on Widden Brook, southeastern Australia, were examined and correlated longitudinally to establish their evolutionary history. Three discontinuous terrace sequences, the Baramul, Widden and Kewarra, were identified in a 26 km reach using sedimentology, topography and chronology. Each terrace sequence occurred within a geomorphically distinct valley setting: an upstream constriction, a valley expansion and a highly constricted downstream section. Radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence ages indicated that each terrace sequence was formed during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene (16.7–0.5 ka cal BP). However, their sedimentology and topography were shown to differ significantly. We present evidence that both climate and the exceedance of intrinsic geomorphic thresholds were major contributing factors responsible for the formation of these terrace sequences. Key Words: chronologycorrelationfluvial geomorphologysedimentologystratigraphyterrace sequences Acknowledgements This research was funded by the Australian Research Council, through Linkage Project LP0455080 and the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering for grants AINGRA 06092 and AINGRA 08131 to enable work on the ANSTO STAR accelerator to be conducted. Many thanks go to Stuart Fallon for the radiocarbon dating in the Research School of Earth Sciences at the Australian National University. Our appreciation is also extended to Diane Fyfe, Lloyd Isaacson, Paul Cheeseman, Wayne Cook, Damian Kelleher, Daniel Butts and Peter Coffey for their help in the lab and field. We thank Journal reviewers Tim Cohen and Ken Page for their comments. The support of an Australian Postgraduate Award for Industry is also acknowledged.